New Zealand teenagers are related to the challenge of virus running in tackle game
A New Zealand teenager died after playing a tackle game, believed to be inspired by the controversial new high-impact collision sports trend on social media.
Police confirmed the 19-year-old boy died at the hospital Monday night with severe head injuries while playing tackle games with friends in the north of Palmerston, North Island city.
“The death of this young man is an absolute tragedy, and my idea is with his family and friends,” said inspector Ross Grantham.
“Take-up games… are based on social media-driven trends where participants compete in full-on contact collisions without protective gear,” he said.
Media coverage within New Zealand connects the game with Run IT Traing Challenge. The challenge is that it has attracted attention on social media in recent weeks, with videos on Tiktok and Instagram mostly showing men running at full speed, running each other, with tens of millions of views.
“Although it's an impromptu game between friends, not a planned event, this tragic result does highlight the security issues inherent in this activity,” Grantham said.
The tragedy comes after the IT straight match in Auckland last week, which led to two men retirement due to head injuries. According to RNZ, one of the men appeared to have had a seizure.
The organizer of the event, Rune rewards “strength and perseverance” on its website with “the world's most intense new collision sport”.
More than 1,000 people watched eight men compete for a $20,000 prize, and the winner will compete in the final next month to compete for $250,000.
Lanit said in a statement to The Guardian that the teenager's death was tragic.
It said: “Any contact sports, such as boxing, martial arts or combat style activities, should be held in a highly controlled environment, including professional medical supervision and support.”
It says it has active screen participants, involving how and where to deal with it, before and after competition, and medical assessments for medical staff on hand.
“We discourage any replication of the sport, as it can only be performed under strict conditions”.
Melanie Bussey, a professor in the School of Athletics, Sports and Sports Sciences at the University of Otago, said running tackles can increase the likelihood of severe brain trauma.
She said sports associations and governing bodies are working to improve the welfare of players and reduce preventable injuries, and the introduction of high-risk sports seems not only “backfire, but worrying.”
Patria Hume, a professor of human performance at AUT, warns the public about the risk of injury and death in participating in the sport.
“[The] She said death was preventable. We need people to stop participating in activities that intend to hurt someone. ”
